SA Senator Nick Xenophon has been gassed in a crackdown by riot police using teargas to in Kuala Lumpur.

Speaking by mobile phone to AdelaideNow while an armed escort attempts to move his party out of the area as tear gas canisters continue to be launched at protestors, Senator Xenophon said the police “had gone nuts, people are panicking and starting to run”.

Senator Xenophon is in Malaysia with six international delegates at the invitation of Malaysian Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim on a fact finding mission to investigate electoral processes including gerrymanders, with an election expected around June.

Senator Xenophon said so far he had been gassed three times and at one stage more than a dozen canisters rained down near him as he tried to leave.

Estimates of the crowd vary, with Senator Xenophon putting it at 200,000 people.